Getting through my list!

Last Saturday I made a list of Crafting Projects that need to be done.  I always find that making lists is very useful as it helps me make sense of all the random thoughts about projects which whirl round my head.

I have had another extremely busy week, concentrating on the garden and getting it ready for winter.  We have a lot of shrubs and large bushes in our garden and due to our rather wet summer they have all grown like crazy.  I spent a large part of three days pruning - actually a job I enjoy, although I do tend to get carried away and everything gets a very severe haircut! Had the day off gardening today but hope to get back to pruning tomorrow morning.

But I have also managed to work on "The List" too. 
First on The List was to Finish both Baby Quilt WIPs.
Last week I had put the walking foot on to my machine to machine quilt some lines on A Star is Born quilt so whilst the foot was still on I sewed the binding on to Noah's Ark, my other WIP Baby Quilt.  During that evening I hand sewed the binding on so, voila, my finished WIP!

Everything in this quilt is from stash, including the pieced backing (which I forgot to photograph).

I didn't have quite enough of the border fabric leftover for the binding so I added a few pieces of three different yellow fabrics.  They were in my leftover binding bag, so more scraps used up.

So my first Baby Quilt WIP is finished and waiting for the New Zealand baby to put in an appearance.

During the evenings whilst I've been watching TV and again at Patchwork Group this morning I have been hand stitching away at the other WIP, sewing around each star with a double row of Perle and sewing in the ditch around the centre square of each star.  It's coming along well and as hand quilting is something I enjoy, I've been enjoying the process very much.

I have partly done the Second item on my list as I have cut loads of strips from lots of scrap fabrics but I haven't got back to finishing the blocks of the String Quilt I am making.  This was because I decided to make 10 QAYG String blocks for Jan MacFadyan in Australia. This job really need the walking foot so, as that was already on my machine I moved them up the list.  Again I very much enjoy making these blocks and really had fun sewing them.

Here they are:

 

Jan does such great work making quilts for all sorts of good causes:  a lot she makes entirely herself but she also re-jigs quilt tops donated to her and uses 10.5" square QAYG blocks to make very bright and cheerful ( and warm!) String Quilts.  If you are interested in putting some of your scraps to good use, have a look at her blog: Sew Many Quilts- Too Little Time

The instructions for the QAYG blocks and photos of her finished QAYG quilts are on the blog.

I have got the parcel ready to post and tomorrow I'll take it to the Post Office.
Another item ticked off!

I want to machine quilt around the border on my Star Quilt and then I can change the foot  on my machine.  I find putting the walking foot on very difficult as it needs me to use my left hand - and I am right handed.  In addition the screw is very short and my fingers aren't as nimble as they once were. So once the walking foot is on I make the most of it and use it for as many projects as I can.

After my big string cutting session the other day I have plenty of strings to finish my String Quilt WIP and make the Spider web blocks for our Group Quilt. Plenty to keep me busy there!

And I need to start knitting the beanie and the shoulder bag.  Will look out the patterns, yarn and needles tomorrow.

This evening it's Rugby:  NZ v Namibia, so I will be watching TV and hand quilting too.
I am not a Rugby fan - I find the game so confusing as I don't understand the rules - but, much to my surprise,  I have very much enjoyed the games I watched over the weekend. As my other half will be watching I will too and work on my quilt at the same time.  I expect there are lots of crafters doing exactly the same, watching TV whilst working on their current project.

Go NZ - until I am watching England play!

A finish and a WIP

One of my good friends will be celebrating her 80th birthday in a few days time.  I have made her a bag using Kiwi fabric charms I brought back with me from New Zealand. I decided to frame the charms with black rather than cream to show them off and I am pleased with the result.

Each fabric depicts a well-known NZ item: sheep, penguins, kiwis (fruit and the bird!), pukeko, tui, a New Zealand bach (little holiday cottage) etc.  I hope she likes it. I am also adding a tin of NZ Earl grey teabags which we bought when we were visiting Kerikeri (North Island, NZ).

 

Three views of the bag, showing both sides and the base.

 

I have also been working on another baby quilt, this one for a boy.  I know of three babies being born in the next few months and two of them are going to be boys so I need to augment my Baby Boy Quilts stash.

 

I am hand quilting it, in the ditch around the main blocks and sashing and then I am going to add some decorative Perle larger stitching.

 

All the fabrics for the quilt came from my stash and the yellow buttons on the bag were also from stash ........ I have several boxes and jars of buttons!

Since my Big Tidy Up I know what stash I have, including pieces of batting.
When I came to sandwich the baby quilt I knew I had a piece that would probably be just the right size.  It was  - but even better, I was able to use the trimmings to fold into the bag handles to give them a bit more strength and body.  Great!

I am off to cut out some strips of fabric to start another Baby Boy quilt. This should be fairly quick to put together as I collected together suitable fabrics for the idea I had when I was sorting out my Sewing Room.

So, off to get cutting out!  I love the excitement of starting a new project and love having hand sewing ready to pick up when I watch TV and go to my Patchwork Group.

 

Definitely WAS a UFO, now a WIP

Continuing with my New Year Resolution to finish UFOs, I have been tackling one which has languished as a pile of blocks gained in a Bee a couple of years ago.

When I participated in the Bee I was really excited.  Enjoyed making the blocks, loved sending them off to the USA and really loved looking at the parcel of blocks sent back to me.

Why I didn't just sew them together then I don't know!  Instead they were put away in a padded envelope in THE CUPBOARD!

So, a couple of weeks ago I decided that this pile of blocks was the next UFO on the list and that it was time to tackle them.  In an afternoon I turned them into blocks of 4 and decided on the arrangement of blocks to create a quilt top 4 blocks square. 
Then we went on holiday and the now WIP went back into THE CUPBOARD.

But I promised myself it would now be finished so yesterday I sewed all the blocks together into a top and in the next few days I will sandwich it and finish it!!!

So three Sneaky peak photos:

 

I have chosen this quilt's name:  A Riot of Colour!

I wonder if you can work out what pattern this is?  Photo 3 is a good clue and if you look back on my Flickr photostream ( koshka2 ) and look at my Bee swaps I think you will find the answer.

I have to say finishing UFOs is great.  Lovely feeling of accomplishment.

However I did find it gave me the dilemma of when is a UFO a UFO or when is it a WIP?
I had a Set on Flickr I had called 2013 Completed WIPs but then decided they should be more accurately described as 2013 Completed UFOs so I changed the title of the set.  Two quilts in there at present, soon to be joined by a 3rd.  HURRAH!

Do let me know if you have worked out which set of UFO blocks this was.